The entire family is sequestered while we try to complete the massive amount of stuff that needs to be done before we leave for our “Not Back To School Days” trip to Disneyland. The older boys proved incapable of doing schoolwork on our spontaneous trip to the Vegas last week, so that means dozens of lessons have to be finished in addition to their regular work. No one is very happy at the moment, least of all me.

Some things that are making me happy:

Mon.thly.Info - This site keeps track of your menstrual cycles and predicts when I will have my period (and ovulation, if I was into the idea more babies right now). It even e-mails a helpful reminder two days before the “event”, so I don’t have to make a rushed trip to The Store That Shall Not Be Named for tampons. Brilliant use of technology.

Ruche - This online boutique has a feeling that’s similar to Anthropologie, yet I don’t have to sell my first-born child to afford it. Also: some organic cotton items. I highly approve. I bought this Magenta Flowing Forest Scarf, this Wooden Branch Charm Necklace, and these Leafy Filigree Earrings. I wish I wasn’t too fussy to buy shoes online, because these Brown Lacey Lace Flats are calling me.

The local library added shopping baskets for use by patrons. As someone who wanders among the shelves while balancing a precarious stack of books, this addition is greatly appreciated. Now if only they could block MySpace on the public computers…Thirty-two computers, and every one is occupied by a preteen.

Twitter - Now that I have an iPhone, it is 10x more fun. I can twitter while doing interesting things, as opposed to every post being along the lines of: “Sitting at my desk. Working.” TwitPic is my friend. (Not so much: the Twitter application for Facebook. I gave it the boot after it filled up my profile page with status updates, making me look like a loser who hangs out on social networking sites all day long.)

Brady fell in love with a kiddie piano at FAO Schwarz and I hesistantly plunked down $50 to bring this one home (because a pink Baby Grand for $175? Not happening.) Would he continue to be enamored with it enough to justify the cost (as well as the hassle of dragging it through Caesars Palace)? Oh, yes. Brady thinks he’s Baby Elton John, tickling the ivories all day long (and sometimes teething on the piano lid, using it to pull himself to a semi-standing position, or falling over and hitting his head on the keys with a resounding “PLONK!”).

As far as babies go, Brady was quite amiable for the first six months of his life (give or take a couple weeks).  He never engaged in unjustified crying, slept through the night at an early age, and greeted the world with a gummy smile. Now? I fear that I broke the baby.

It started with our trip to Michigan, which wreaked havoc on his schedule. Signs of never-before-seen crankiness appeared. I began getting up in the middle of the night to quell the fussing in the Pack N’ Play across the room. My dad and I took Brady for numerous outings, as riding in the stroller was the only thing that ensured contentment (as long as we didn’t slow our pace, even to window shop).

He amazed our relatives with his newfound sitting and rolling prowess, but also began whining for food like an insistent dog. I think this habit started with a slice of pickle I gave him to teethe on, and was reinforced with bits of baked beans and melted marshmallow slipped to him by family members on the 4th of July. I knew that I was in serious trouble when he had a five-alarm meltdown because I wouldn’t allow him to drink my pop. (It finally dawned on me to buy teething biscuits- messy, but proffering them at meal times maintains the peace. His new fancy European cow sippy cup, courtesy of Grandpa, is also of great help.)

So traveling with Brady was not a rousing success, but his bad temper was manageable because there was a constant supply of adoring people to hand him off to. I thought he would sort himself out once we returned home, but then came a fever, followed by…

Chicken pox. (Caught from Aidan, who had the vaccine and acquired a mild case that I thought might be bug bites or an allergic reaction.) Thankfully, Brady’s case of chicken pox was also fairly tame (in comparison to mine*), but it certainly did nothing to improve his mood. He is now in the recovery phase, but the past week has been a blur of toys-whinging-bottle-lullaby-nap-repeat. (Also, I feel guilty over the fact that Brady traveled on an airplane at the height of contagiousness and exposed numerous people to his germs, including my pox-free brother.)

I am mentally preparing myself for tomorrow. Brady has an appointment with the family doctor, which will undoubtedly include shots of some sort. Fun!

* Yours truly, with chicken pox:

Every year, our neighborhood HOA sponsors a Christmas decorating contest.

The first year we were totally shut out. While we did have the totally cool animated Santa Train (consisting of 750 lights), we had no yard to speak of- just a muddy mess that was unsuited for decorating of any sort and was our downfall in the competition. However, our decorations were still a valiant showing, considering that we had only moved in two months prior.

Last year, we upped the ante. We decorated bushes and trees and added tons of stuff- candy canes lining the driveway, an inflatable snowglobe on the porch, and a snowfall projector. Our neighbors were frantically trying to keep up as we added more and more lights. The day of the competition found them desperately making plywood suckers and candy canes in their garage, which they managed to put out one hour prior to the judging. The neighbors won “Best Traditional Display”, while we won “Best Technical Display”. “Best Overall” went to a house two streets over who copied the majority of our display, with the addition of some cotton batting thrown on the ground to simulate snow.

This year, we added even more lights. We also created a tree from PVC pipe and cascading twinkle lights with a star on top and stuck it in the bare spot that plagued us last year. And who can forget the digital light show that we scored at Bronner’s this summer?

We won “Best Traditional Display”, which garnered us a little sign in our front yard and a $25 Chili’s gift card. “Best Overall” went to a house whose decorations consisted of a row of icicle lights on their lower story (upper story = totally bare), an inflatable…Santa? (they had turned it off by the time we drove around to check out the other winners, so that’s a guess), and this snowman that blows fake snow out of his hat. I had tried to convince Kyle to buy that exact snowman about a month ago, with no success. Since that was the only remarkable feature of the winning display, I can only assume that we would have dominated the competition if we had purchased it. (Either that, or the residents of that house are friends of the judges. Or money exchanged hands.)

Now I’m just looking forward to enjoying the next few days. The shopping is done and I’ve given up on baking Christmas cookies (except maybe the fruitcakey ones with the red and green candied cherries). The boys and I cuddled on the couch and watched “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” this afternoon. There is a fire in the fireplace, it’s raining, and I’m knitting (a navy/gold scarf to wear to the Rose Bowl game)…very cozy, but not for long. Aidan is going to a Christmas sleepover (yeah…I don’t know) tonight, so I must leave in a minute to deposit him at his friend Jack’s house.

I woke this morning to the sound of jackhammers. Tearing apart the curb in front of my house. There was also the sound of Rudy barking incessantly. Because he was greatly alarmed by the cacophony, as well as the presence of random workers who wandered onto our property in order to examine our Scion xB and our Christmas decorations. Like, picking up our snowfall projector and looking at it. The snowfall projector that takes 10 minutes of adjusting and fiddling to make the lighted snowflakes look right. And did I mention that the neighborhood holiday decorating contest judging is tonight?

It’s a good thing that I had no intention of accomplishing anything of consequence today, aside from helping Grandma finish her Christmas shopping. A visit to the crowded mall is definitely preferable to staying home at present.

Football season is upon us. My sweet husband has been abducted by pod people and replaced by a clone wearing a Dolphins jersey, clutching a Nerf football (also bearing the Dolphins logo) in one hand and the Tivo remote in the other. Soon he will begin demanding cheese dip served in a football-shaped crockpot and swearing loudly at the television, and I will be forced to poke him with my knitting needles.

I can’t listen to John Madden ramble on any longer. Time to adopt my own personal football ritual involving my Ipod and earbuds.